The cultural weapon

used by the Slovakian establishment. This kind of policies will function as long as there will be individuals to answer the nationalistic messages. And you have this potential target-group because for decades, nationalism was in this part of Europe the answer to structural disfunctions, incapacity to understand the functioning of economic markets and the late modernisation. It is a vicious circle and it is how the members of the societies from this region are considering appropriate to win and request symbolic and electoral support.

Statement by OSCE Minorities Commissioner on Slovakia's State Language Act

THE HAGUE, 03 September 2009 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), Knut Vollebaek, released the following statement today:

"Over the past two months I have had numerous discussions with the Slovak and Hungarian Governments and Parliaments as well as representatives of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia in connection with the promulgation of amendments to Slovakia's State Language Act. All parties have sought my good offices in order to help find an amenable solution to outstanding issues surrounding the promulgation and implementation of the Law. In my talks I emphasized that it is important that an appropriate balance is ensured between strengthening the state language on the one hand, and protecting the linguistic rights of persons belonging to national minorities on the other. I suggested specific measures on how this balance can be enhanced and recommended a number of steps to be taken in order to implement the law in an appropriate and proportionate way. It is essential that the implementation of the Act does not negatively affect the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in Slovakia.

I also encouraged the Slovak and Hungarian Governments to engage in constructive dialogue on outstanding issues in the spirit of friendly and good-neighbourly relations and to make full use of existing bilateral mechanisms. It is also imperative that the next steps are taken in close co-operation with national minority representatives in Slovakia.In this context, all sides have welcomed my participation in the upcoming meeting of the Slovak-Hungarian Joint Commission on Issues of National Minorities and have invited me to provide my assistance in ensuring that the next steps will take account of the rights and legitimate needs of all stakeholders. This includes my assistance with the drafting of the implementing guidelines. I intend to remain engaged with this matter until it is resolved in a way that all sides accept. I will visit Budapest and Bratislava in mid-September to continue assisting Hungary and Slovakia in resolving their differences."

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/39377.html

Social discrimination of Roma

in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Language Row between Slovakia and Hungary

continues.

OSCE minorities commissioner discusses amendments to Slovakia's language law

THE HAGUE, 22 July, OSCE

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, received delegations from Slovakia (on 21 July) and Hungary (on 22 July) to discuss the amendments to the "Law on the State Language of the Slovak Republic".Vollebaek heard the views of the two sides and in confidence shared his opinion and recommendations on the proposed amendments with the two delegations.He said he would continue to remain engaged in the matter with a view to providing a possible venue for the two sides to address matters of mutual concern in a way that promotes both interests of minority communities and enhances friendly relations between the two countries.

The High Commissioner on National Minorities, created in 1992, is a unique OSCE institution with a mandate to identify and seek early resolution of ethnic tensions that might endanger peace, stability or friendly relations between OSCE participating States.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/38979.html

Minorities and the economic crisis. The Hungarian case

The current economic crisis will not affect the support of the Hungarian state for minorities.
"The government has duties and moral obligations to Hungarians living beyond the borders which it has to fulfill even under difficult circumstances", said the Hungarian prime-minister, Gordon Bajnai, on the occasion of a meeting with Hungarian representatives from Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. In the same time, the new 41 year-old billionaire prime-minister should fight the economic crisis and the worrying rise of the extreme right.

Roma discrimination in Slovakia, in focus

1386 Budapest 62, P.O. Box 906/93, Hungary Phone: (36-1) 413-2200; (36-1) 413-2201 E-mail: office@errc.org http://errc.org

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW, United Kingdom T: +44 (0)20 7413 5500 F: +44 (0)20 7956 1157 E: amnestyis@amnesty.org W: www.amnesty.org

AI Index: EUR 72/002/2009

21 April 2009

Mr Dušan Čaplovič, Deputy Prime Minister for Knowledge-Based Society, European Affairs, Human Rights and Minorities

Mr Róbert Kaliňák, Minister of Interior

Mr Ján Packa, Police President

Mr Štefan Kočan, Director of the Section of Control and Inspection Service

Mr Dobroslav Trnka, General Prosecutor

Honourable Sirs,

Amnesty International and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), a Budapest-based public interest law organisation, are writing to urge you to ensure that a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation takes place into the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of six Romani boys in Košice, Slovakia, on 21 March 2009; that those responsible be brought to justice in fair proceedings; and that the victims be provided with adequate reparation, including compensation, rehabilitation and redress.

According to graphic video footage shot by police officers which was released publicly on 7 April 2009 by the Slovak daily newspaper SME, at least six Slovak police officers forced six Romani boys between the ages of 10 and 16 to violently hit each other, kiss each other and strip naked. Media has also reported that the police officers thereafter let dogs loose at the youths, and that two of the boys were bitten by them.

Amnesty International and the ERRC welcome the immediate calls by Police President Ján Packa for a full investigation into the incident, and his subsequent announcement that the investigation will look into the possible racist motives of those involved.

The organisations note that the day after the video footage was released, 14 police officers were reportedly placed under inspection by the Ministry of Interior, and as of 15 April seven officers have been accused of abuse of power of the public authority and of blackmail. We have also received information indicating that six of the officers have been dismissed.

Amnesty International and the ERRC are concerned that in some public statements related to this incident, police officials have focused on the alleged illegal activities of the boys in question rather than strongly and unequivocally criticising cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by police, which is prohibited in all circumstances under international law. On 8 April, SME quoted Košice Regional Police Director Juraj Bukuš questioned the actions of the officers while noting, "It is true that we are speaking about well known criminals and they were committing crimes before." This kind of reaction ignores the fact that there is never any justification for cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and it diminishes the condemnation of the police violence. Such statements also could prejudice those entrusted with carrying out the investigation.

Amnesty International and the ERRC recall that in accordance with Slovakia's commitments under international human rights law, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, all persons - regardless of their alleged involvement in illegal activities- have the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the person. Furthermore, the organisations note that the Slovak Criminal Code criminalizes torture and other inhuman or cruel treatment and abuse of power and imposes additional penalties for a crime motivated by national, ethnic or racial hatred.

1. Amnesty International and the ERRC call on each of you within the remit of your office to ensure: That ongoing investigations into this incident, including into the conduct of individual police, are independently conducted, undertaken impartially and in a thorough manner;

2. That the possible racial motivation of the crime is investigated fully;

3. That all those responsible for ill-treatment or violation of the law or police regulations are brought to justice in fair proceedings;

4. That the scope, methods and findings of the investigation are made publicly available;

5. That all victims receive an adequate remedy for their suffering, including compensation, rehabilitation (including ensuring that the best available psychological counselling is made accessible to the children), guarantees of non-repetition, and a public apology from Slovak government and police representatives; and

6. That any future incidents of similar behaviour by police officers are strongly, unequivocally and publicly condemned.

Amnesty International and the ERRC respectfully request to be informed of the actions undertaken by your individual offices in response to this incident.

We will continue to monitor the progress of investigation and any proceedings brought against the officers responsible for this gross violation of human rights.

Sincerely,

Nicola Duckworth Robert A. Kushen

Europe and Central Asia Programme Director Managing Director

Amnesty International European Roma Rights Centre

TO:

Mr Dušan ?aplovi?, Deputy Prime Minister for Knowledge-Based Society, European Affairs, Human Rights and Minorities

Úrad vlády Slovenskej republiky

Námestie slobody 1

813 70 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Fax: +421 2 5249 7595

Mr Róbert Kaliňák, Minister of Interior

Ministerstvo vnútra Slovenskej republiky

Pribinova 2

812 72 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Fax: +421 2 5296 7746

Mr Ján Packa, Police President

Kancelária prezidenta Policajného zboru

Ra?ianska 45

812 72 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Fax: +4219610 59061

Mr Štefan Ko?an, Director of the Section of Control and Inspection Service

Sekcia kontroly a inšpek?nej služby MV SR

Krížna 44

821 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Fax: +421 2 5564 1705

Mr Dobroslav Trnka, General Prosecutor

Generálna prokuratúra SR

Štúrova 2

812 85 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Fax: +421 252 926 596

CC:

Mr Jacques Barrot, EU Commissioner for Freedom, Security and Justice

European Commission

B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

Fax: +32 0 2 298 15 99

Mr Morten Kjaerum, Director of the EU Agency of Fundamental Rights

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

Schwarzenbergplatz 11

1040 Wien, Austria

Fax: +431 580 30 699

Mr Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner

Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights

Council of Europe

F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, France

Fax: +33 3 90215053

Ms Gay McDougall, UN Independent Expert on minority issues

Special Procedures Division

c/o OHCHR-UNOG

8-14 Avenue de la Paix

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 917 90 06

Mr Githu Muigai, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism

Special Procedures Division

c/o OHCHR-UNOG

8-14 Avenue de la Paix

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 917 90 06

Mr Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture

Special Procedures Division

c/o OHCHR-UNOG

8-14 Avenue de la Paix

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Fax: +41 22 917 90 06

Slovak-Hungarian relations: Paska Meets Szili and Advocates State Language Act Amendment

TASR
March 12

The State Language Act amendment approved by the Government on Wednesday won't restrict the rights of ethnic minorities to use their language, Parliamentary chairman Pavol Paska said following talks with his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Szili in the village of Bela (Nitra region) on Thursday.

"Let us defend our national language at home, it's quite common even by larger nations in Europe," said Paska.

Paska appreciated the meeting for its openness. "Formerly, I used to have a feeling that I'm standing in the dock," said Paska, adding that Slovakia is able to respond to all questions Hungary raises, but currently its foremost concern is to focus on bolstering the economic situation of all people living in the country, without regard to their nationality.

Conversely, Szili expressed Hungary's concerns about the Government-proposed bill toughening up use of the ethnic minorities languages.

"The words of Mr. Chairman are a guarantee that no elements restricting the rights of ethnic minorities to use their language will appear in the final version of the bill," said Szili.

The chairs also agreed on future talks of the constitutional and foreign affairs parliamentary committees of the two countries, which are expected to resolve issues surrounding the legal status of the ethnic minorities in both Slovakia and Hungary. Paska and Szili are to meet in June again in order to evaluate the results of the co-operation.

Fico: SMER MPs to Have Free Hand in Minority Textbook Vote

TASR - The News Agency of the Slovak Republic
February 3
Bratislava

SMER-SD MPs will be allowed to vote according to their own convictions on an amendment to the Education Act that deals with the languages used for place-names in textbooks for minority schools, SMER chairman and Premier Robert Fico said on Tuesday after a SMER caucus session.

The bill, which was returned to Parliament by President Ivan Gasparovic after receiving support from the Opposition and SMER MPs, is due to be voted on a second time.

"As far as this law is concerned, SMER-SD supported it the first time ... It's fully in the hands of the MPs, I'll respect any decision," said Fico.

"If the amendment isn't passed, we'll look for other ways of dealing with this. If it is passed, we'll be able to focus on more important issues," said Fico.

Ethnic-Hungarian SMK vice-chairman Laszlo Szigeti said after a session of the parliamentary education committee on Tuesday that the committee has recommended that MPs should override Gasparovic's veto. According to Szigeti, six members of the committee belonging to Smer and the Opposition voted in favour of the recommendation, while one coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) member voted against, and the LS-HZDS representative was absent.

According to the amendment, place-names in textbooks for ethnic minorities will be stated in both the minority and Slovak languages, but only in cases when the names are deeply-rooted in the language of the ethnic minority concerned. SMK's original proposal was for only Hungarian place-names to be published in textbooks, but Parliament approved an amendment drawn up by its Chairman Pavol Paska (SMER-SD) that states that the official Slovak equivalents should be added in brackets or following a slash.

The amendment was approved by 107 MPs on December 3. President Ivan Gasparovic vetoed it, however, recommending that MPs should not approve it a second time. If Parliament overrides the president's veto, the amendment will come into force as of April 1.

Hungarian foreign ministry expresses regret at Slovak President's veto of education bill

The exchange of misunderstandings between Hungary and Slovakia continues.

MTI

December 22

Hungary's Foreign Ministry deeply regrets that Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic has declined to sign a new education bill, spokesman Lajos Szelestey said on Friday.

The new bill would allow the use of Hungarian placenames at first place, followed by the Slovak placenames in parantheses, in textbooks used by ethnic Hungarian schools in Slovakia.

Gasparovic' decision to veto the bill was announced earlier on Friday.

Szelestey said the Hungarian ministry deeply regrets the decision because the introduction of the new law could put an end to a long-lasting dispute. The ministry can only hope that the Slovak parliament will find a solution acceptable to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, Szelestey added.

Hungary's deputy education minister Gergely Arato also felt sorry for Gasparovic's decision. He told MTI that he would initiate a meeting of the Hungarian-Slovak joint education committee. He said that a ministry decision in Hungary will come into force in the near future which will simplify the use of textbooks for ethnic minorities written in their mother tongue, extra financing for ethnic minority education will be maintained and extra opportunities will be created to support ethnic minority cultures.

Chairman of the Slovak National Party Jan Slota recently called on Gasparovic not to sign the bill, stating that the amendments were unconstitutional and contrary to the law.

The bill will go before parliament once again and at least 76 supporting votes are required in the 150-member body to get it approved despite Gasparovic' veto.

Slovakia Urged to Take Care of its Roma Population

The situation of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the problems they are facing in Western Europe are one of the most serious concerning European minorities. For the new EU members, improving the situation of the Roma population was one of the condition of getting the full membership, and the general standard improved, but still they are confronted with serious inequalities and discriminations in terms of recognition of their basic human rights. In addition, in comparison with other minorities, they are lacking a strong and self-aware intellectual leadership able to support their rights. In the case of Roma, we can say that as majorities, we could easily identify them on the street, we can shout their ethnic belonging but, in fact, what we know about them is almost nothing. Their world is still a mistery, but not one that propel us towards dreaming, but one when ignorance kills. Isabel Fonseca is among the few researchers who made a personal journey in the life of Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe, experiences gathered in a very interesting book. OSI devoted several exhibitions and studies to Roma, among which Rolf Bauerdick's insights of the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe.

Tolerance.ca

Amidst grand celebrations over its switch to euro and entry into euroclub, Universal Society of Hinduism president, Rajan Zed, has urged Slovakia to take care of its most disadvantaged Roma population and stop human rights violations reportedly suffered by them.

Zed says that in Slovakia, Roma reportedly live in deep poverty and many of their children study in segregated schools offering inferior quality education and many do not attend school at all.

Alarming condition of Roma is a social blight for Slovakia and the European Union as they reportedly regularly face social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, unusually high unemployment rates, etc., Rajan Zed argues.

It is like an undeclared apartheid and it is almost total societal exclusion of Roma. The maltreatment of Roma is outside even the European Union norms. Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of human rights agenda of Slovakia. Strong political will is needed to resolve this, Zed points out.

Roma inclusion and integration programs need to immediately take off the ground providing them with better health and education avenues, higher economic opportunities, sources of empowerment and participation, etc. Expand their access to preschool education, let their children attend mainstream schools and launch awareness campaigns. Available Roma workforce, if utilized effectively, can bring unexpected economic gains to Slovakia, Zed says.

Rajan Zed suggests that Slovakia might need help in improving the plight of Roma. A comprehensive, sustainable, cohesive and integrated Europe-wide policy with strategic focus is needed to target discrimination against Roma and their integration; providing them equal access to education, employment, public services, housing, and health care; empowerment through participation; increased transparency of authorities; improving their material and human rights situation, etc. Involve Roma in policymaking and its implementation and assessment. Establish a monitoring body for programs and projects.

Zed says that all world religions, denominations and religious leaders should also come out in support of the cause of this distinct ethnic and cultural group of Roma, because religion teaches us to help the helpless.

Voices of dissent: Ethnic reconciliation in Central and Eastern Europe (I)

The Hungarian-Slovakian relations rarely reached a normal, non-tensed level, after the fall of communism.

As a overall rule, the dialogue between Hungary and its neighbours started from the very beginning on a dissonant tone, right after József Antal's claim of representing 15 million of Hungarians - including all the ethnic Hungarian from Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia - repeated by all the heads of the governments in Budapest, whatever their political orientation, created serious rifts in the dialogue between Hungary and its neighbouring countries.

One of the EU and NATO full membership conditions was a proof of good bilateral relationships with the neighbours, but the reconciliation process took longer than expected. The identity survival and the political tools chosen for supporting it tensioned sometimes this relationships. The Hungarian status law an initiative of Orban Viktor's government but voted - even with some nuances - by all the Hungarians parties, increased the lack of trust and provoked diplomatic tensions, mainly with Romania and Slovakia, hosts of larger Hungarian communities. But, in the same time the evolutions in the two cases are different.

In Romania, the cross-border cooperation, the economic and military exchanges continued in the last 20 years at a very high level, despite the nationalist accents of the public discourse - available as well for members of the Hungarian party, RMDSZ/UDMR. One of the hardest nationalist, anti-Hungarian and anti-Semitic Romanian party, The Greater Romania Party/PRM was left out of the Parliament at the last parliamentary elections, November 30. Since 1996, RMDSZ/UDMR is part of the coalition government, having in this way all the opportunities to be part of the political negotiations, as well as to be part of the decision making process. The process is far to be accomplished as the request of the minority don't get the full agreement of the Romanian parties - the recreation of Bolyai university in Cluj, the full restitution of church properties confiscated by the communist regime, being among the constant claims of the Hungarian party. But, at least, a certain mechanism of discussion and negociation was created in order to prevent serious tensions. Since 2005, they are held periodically Hungarian-Romanian joint Governmental meetings, in Bucharest or in Budapest with an agenda going beyond the issues of minority rights.

A similar evolution was followed in Slovakia. But, since 2006, it was for the first time since Vladimír Meciar's nationalist regime of the 1990s, the Hungarian minority Party of the Hungarian Coalition (Strana madarskej koalície: SMK) was left out of the power-sharing coalition. In its place, the right-wing Slovak National Party (Slovenská národná strana: SNS) gained the unexpected favour of populist Socialist Prime Minister Robert Fico, along with Meciar's People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (Ludová strana - Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko: LS-HZDS), although Meciar himself plays a noticeably quieter role than SNS leader Jan Slota. Giving the popular support enjoyed by the ruling coalition and its nationalist discourse, it is hard to predict a change of tone, situation in which it is expected to have a radicalization of the Hungarian political party as well, echoing with a more and more active, visible and organized Hungarian far-right.

It is quite inappropriate to talk about models universally available in terms of ethnic reconciliation, mainly in a region where history is still playing a very important role. But, at least, it is possible to identify a couple of ingredients whose mixture could create the premises for a choice of the dialogue, instead of confrontation - of any kind. The permanent dialogue between representatives of the majority and those of the minority is one of the key. Nationalism ia an intellectually created concept, but it is available too for the reconciliation. Civil society representatives from both parts might constitute themselves in voices for dialogue. The Slovak intellectuals already sent a public message in this respect, and it is an important step forward, that must be continued, diversified and enforced, not only in crisis situation.

In Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, Francis Fukuyama is stating that the efficient economic and social organizations are emerging from those societies which have wide and efficient trust networks, including in this category the social-society network.

In Central and Eastern Europe, it is exactly this trust who was destroyed, with long term consequences, by the communists regimes. In each of the countries of the former Eastern block, the communist operated differently - from the "goulash Capitalism" in Hungary, to the paranoid dictatorship in Ceausescu's Romania. But, at the level of the society, of people-from-people relations, it is exactly this trust who was extincted, through the repression system. You was educated - in school, or family or society as a whole - to do not trust anybody - because spy of a "foreign" anti-communist power, or a collaborator of the secret polices, or member of the minority groups. The rising stars of communism from yesterday were the today "capitalism's agents", so, who to trust? Not even your family members. And extreme nationalism was an efficient tool to create a wide support for the regime.

It is obvious that the general political, social and economic situation in the last 20 years tremendously changed in Central and Eastern Europe. But, the past/various sentimental interpretations of history are resurgent, in political crisis, in elections times or simply when a need for getting a stronger identity is required. It will continued to be so, but such discourses have to be counter by an open dialogue of the public intellectuals on dissenting topics. It will took longer than winning a political campaign for a four-years term in office, but it is a very basic test of the mission and role of intellectuals in these (still) post-communist societies.